Police suspect the man is responsible for attacks on 17 women since 1997

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A campaign to catch a man known as the East Coast Rapist by using electronic billboards and a website is generating leads, an investigator said Wednesday.

The man is believed responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women since 1997. Billboards featuring sketches of the suspect are running where attacks occurred in Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island and in neighboring states.

Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew a total of $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.

"We felt that our best lead may come from the public because somebody may know him linked to all these areas," Kelly said. "There's no boundaries with people like this and there's no jurisdiction where a person is safe. In a way we are racing against the clock."

The man has worn a mask or hooded sweat shirt to conceal his face in some attacks, according to investigators. He typically approaches women outdoors on foot and threatens them with a knife or handgun.

The cases have been linked by DNA. Investigators say they have cleared over 700 suspects.

The first attack occurred in 1997 and the last known attack occurred on Halloween night in 2009 when he raped two teenagers on their way home from trick-or-treating in Woodbridge, Va.

The FBI began the national digital billboard campaign to solve crimes in 2007. Since then, authorities say at least 39 cases have been solved as a result of tips from the public.

Those cases include a suspected serial bank robber identified within 24 hours after billboards went up in several southern states, as well as a man dubbed the "granddad bandit" arrested a week after authorities received a tip from someone who saw the billboard.

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